Duskbound

Chapter 10

It took an hour or so to get used to having loose coins in his pocket, but it was easy enough to alter his gait to keep them from rattling against each other with every step. That did cause a few other problems with how he distributed his weight on the ground that Velik had to correct, but he was confident in his ability to get it all worked out, at least while he was walking around. Maintaining any sort of [Stealth] in a fight was going to be a different matter, and that was a problem.

While it was impossible for him to disappear completely against something that was actively trying to murder him, [Stealth] helped Velik keep monsters off-balance and vulnerable simply by making it more difficult for them to keep track of where he was. Most monsters he stalked and ambushed died in a single thrust, even the weaker elites, but against a pack or something that was legitimately strong like that massive flying squirrel, the coins were a liability.

Admittedly, they wouldn't have made a difference in that particular fight. It was hard to avoid the notice of a creature that could feel everything around it through the very air it controlled. It hadn't used anything so mundane as its eyes or ears to keep track of Velik's position, but that didn't mean the next elite would have the same abilities.

The fact that he'd encountered two elites in the span of two days was worrying. That had never happened before. It used to be months between sightings, and even with the way things had gone crazy over the last half a year, it still took a few weeks for another elite to appear. Something had obviously changed, but Velik had no idea what.

His original plan, to reach level 30 and unlock a new skill slot, wasn't going to work. The way things were going, he didn't have a month or more. By the time he was ready, there'd be two or even three times as many monsters in the forest, enough that they'd form a horde and start attacking the towns again. The simple truth of the matter was that he wasn't killing them faster than they appeared anymore.

A new skill isn't that important. I'll make do.

With his decision made, Velik gathered his supplies, including the annoying pocket full of loose vitrunes, and started making his way north into the true wild lands. The lumberjacks and farmers thought they were at the edge of the civilized world, that they sweated and worked to push that edge just a little bit farther with every tree they cut down and every row they added to their fields. They thought they fended off the monsters that lurked out beyond the light of their lanterns and their torches.

They didn't know what they were talking about. The forests around towns like Deshir and Celarut were tame, practically idyllic. The monsters were weak, barely even above level 10 on a bad day, and Velik could travel for miles between encounters. Even now, as bad as things had gotten in the last few months, it was nothing compared to the deep wood.

Nobody was out there, keeping the population down, pushing the monsters back. That was where they lived, where they fought and bled and killed – where they gained levels and power. There was a reason Velik had been planning to reach the next plateau before he risked another expedition.

The back-to-back elites were too much to ignore. He had to do something now before this whole situation got completely out of hand. The problem was that he wasn't sure he was strong enough. I'll just have to gain more levels on the way.

He shouldered his backpack, sealed off his tiny underground home, and started walking.

[You have slain black hallowed worg (level 23).]

One more. Now where are you?

He wasn't worried. It wouldn't get far before he caught up with it. Unfortunately, the first worg's frantic flight had drawn some unwanted attention. Four different monsters were closing in on Velik's position, two from the south, one just a hundred feet away from the east that would get there first, and, unless he greatly missed his guess, some type of elite that had picked up the trail when he was still chasing the worg. It wasn't fast, but it was coming straight for them.

The closest one burst out of the trees at a height of about nine feet. Velik had just enough time to pin it as some sort of rabbit, only fifty times bigger than normal, with jagged bone spikes poking out of its fur and eyes like two puddles of blood. Then all he saw was a mouth full of needle-like teeth coming directly at his face right up until he put his spear into it and slung the monster sideways. It slid off the blade and crashed into a tree before falling limply to the ground.

[You have slain flash maw hare (level 19).]

The two paired monsters appeared seconds later, a set of identical black bears, each about four feet tall at the shoulder and covered in armored plates instead of fur. One of them charged in, all aggression and flashing claws, while the other circled through the brush to come at Velik from behind. His spear skipped off the bear's plating, barely drawing a scratch across its surface, but he wasn't worried.

There were plenty of gaps to exploit, and a series of quick stabs proved that he could still draw blood from them. The problem was that these particular monsters were going to take too long to kill, and the elite he could feel approaching was almost on them.

The cracking of trees as they gave way filled the air. One right next to the trail splintered, then pitched over to crash against its neighbor, revealing something that slunk in, close to the ground on four legs and covered in shaggy brown and black fur. It had intelligent eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth that it bared at all three of them. Is that a monster version of a wolverine?!

[Predator's Visage] was screaming at him to be careful, that this monster was stronger than it looked, and the sudden fear in the two armored bear's behavior confirmed that belief. It studied all three of them for just a moment, then leaped at the closer of the two bears. Rising up on its back legs, it lashed out with both claws, easily tearing through metal and ripping the monster's face off.

[You have helped slay a steel pelt bear (level 22).]

Oh... Shit. It did that quick.

The monster turned to face Velik.